Machine for fopming tubular fabrics



Oct. 20, 1931. H. M. BUNKER v MACHINE FOR FORMING TUBULAR FABRICS Filed March 15. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 v WITNESSES BY m7' ATTORNEYS Oct. 20, 1931. H. M. BUNKER 1,828,554

MACHINE FOR FORMING TUBULAR FABRICS -Filed March 15. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR J 'E-Bumre,

ATTORNEYS Hmllllmh glTN ESSES M 6 MW Oct. 20, 1931.

H. M. BUNKER 1,828,554

MACHI NE FDR FORMING TUBULAR FABRICS Filed March 15. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Y i I I 50 29 z I I III'H A I 1 5/ i 1. i 50 a Y I INVENTOR WITNESSES llbraeeJiLBunker W BY a Z M? ATTORNEYS a: monnrbnfl; BUNKER-:SOYNCEWjYORK, 1N." Y:, AssIGNoR*To T If? MKBifnKER at eoMPlaNx;

' anc or 103K;- N. n; AGORPORA'TIEOIWOF -1-fEW YORK MACHINE FOR FOR'EVIING TUBULAR FABRICS "llDhiS invention telatesto amachine for *T wfo-rmmg'aatubnlar'lnaterial fTom a strip of fabrio by seeuring "togeth'er the edges of-the j ary 431927.

In the prior patent; the l tubular material was; produced by stitching through the overu lapp'd edgesof 'a transversely foldedmateformed has been found i objectionable When =used 'in manyfindnstri'es; and {it is; therefore,

' an obj eat of the present invention to provide -;-anj improved machine-for forming tubula -"Mi-materialwhich fun'ctionsto j'oin"the-'side edges ofa s't'rip (if fabiic in abutting relationi -tpro'vide a tubular "matei'ial having a "bf Whibh the stithh'ing-' exterids ra dially of thethh'iforinCLstii-p so as to eliminate seam edges Whiohr'eq uire an opening npand pressing clown operation.

88 Theinventien furthermofe c'di-npi elien ds a Inaohineefithe ehaiaoter set fofth 'airfdfo'f the purpose speei fied in 'vvhi'ch thefshuttle is airvrangediwithin the confines ef the'tnhifoi'nied 1 strip": of mateiial whieh is bingeperated upony together With means fo'r 'ti ans r'nitting "motion; to the shuttle Without obstructing the path of movement of the tubifonned strip; 'l -heiinvntim further contemplates in a properly directing the edges o f the lnaterial to he j oinetl, 'to the stitchingmechamsm so as to Ii'nsure proper joininggof the e'dgeswhen liratelof speed -V 7 T "The 1 ermentlon further embodies an rial Whieh-left protrfzlding'*freetdges beyond -the' line of stitchingfithewhy-necessitatingthe opening up flattening'down of said edges,f

\ in ohdehto avoid difficulties -inciid'ent to' the" scaleiwitli' f section.

"Thiiinventionaims-Has-a ifufthei i'ohjeetto proximatelyonthe line 66 of Figure 3.v

reference, A designates j t armwhi chlissupported by a base B atone 'ndfand 'Which is proVidd With the head .0

2 Application filed March 15,1929." Serial nmezaos.

p'rb'ifed :fed fof takingolf the material from the stitching'"meehanism which is driven in A I to a koichintei fel ence with the/path of movement of the material.

other objects of theinjention reside in" the comparative simplicity of f constrnotion of t hemachinefthe eeonomyjwith'iv'vhi'cli it be'prodnced and' operated and the -geneifall eifieiency derived "therefrom.

'WVith the above in View; 'referenceis had to the following 'de 'cn'ptlo and; aceornpanylng drawings, in which there is exhlbltedoneeiiample or emfb'odiment of theini 'enti on, while the claims define the actual scope 'of the same.

' Figure 3 an end View [on an enlarged parts broke'n away and shown in Eig'nre 411s a ffagmentary detail seotio nal 11 approximately on the line 4+4 of Figiire fi is'a fragmentary seetional iriew 'takenap'proximatelyon the line 5-'5 of Figui e 4;. i I e Figin-efi is a sectional plan vie taken ap- Figtire? isa perspectiveii iew fthe tubular-material produced the machlne. v

Flgure 8 1s an enlarged transverse fragmentary'se tiQna1 iew taken approximately 011 the line 8 8 0fFigure'7, and illustrating the seam. l

Referring to the dI aWin s byvchafac-ters of e usual "machlne attheoppositefend carryingneedle bar D,

'needle 'E and pi'esser foot Which constit it'e apart of the stitchingmechanism. In

addition 'to these elements; the, stitching machine ot :this 1 character guide means "for mechanism includes the shnttl'e G Whih is f of therotary hook type and Which designed to cooperate thefneedle and other parts 4 stitching mechanism to pi odnce a ziga zfa'g'stitch. v Ordinarily motionis transmitted fe eited and other objects to extend into the tubiformedstrip between.

the spaced edges thereof in advance of the point of stitching. This is accomplished by providing the machine with a second arm 10 having a supporting base 11 and arranged alongside of or in front of the usual arm A in substantially parallel relation thereto, which arm is provided with a depending horn 12 at its free end adapted to extend between the spaced edges of the tubiformed strip at a point in advance of the point where the ac tual stitching and joining of the edges of the fabric is accomplished by the stitching mechanism. The auxiliary or supplemental arm 10 provides a housing for a counter-shaft 13 mounted therein for rotation, which countershaft is suitably driven from the main drive shaft H of the machine in any suitable manner, such as by the sprockets 1 1 and 15 and a sprocket chain 16 or their equivalent. Motion from the shaft 13 is transmitted by a vertically depending shaft'l'? or its equivalent extending downwardly throughthe horn 12 to a rearwardly extending shaft 18 extending axially of the tubiform strip X and within the confines thereof. The rear end of the shaft 18 at a point directly underlying the needle has attached thereto the shuttle G. The lower end of the horn carries table 19 which extends forwardly from the horn and rearwardly beyond the point of stitching, and said table is formed with bearings 20 and 21 in which the rearwardly extending shaft 18 is journaled. The shaft 17 as disclosed is driven from the counter-shaft '13 by means of the meshing miter gears 22 and 23, while the shaft 18 is driven from the shaft 17 by the meshing miter gears 24 and 25. The table formed with an opening 26 in which the bed plate I of the stitching mechanism is arranged. In practice, tubular shield and form element 27 is carried by the table 19. said element being formed of a sheet of material bent into tubiform-with the side edges secured to the opposite side edges of the table. From. the foregoing, it will thus be seen that the shuttle element G-of the stitching mech- V anism is disposed within the confines of the tubiformed strip X at the point of stitching and that means for transmitting motion to said shuttle extends into the tubiformed strip X between the spaced edges Y' thereof at a point in advance of the'point of stitching so asto afford a clear and unobstructed passageway for manually presenting the same to the stitching mechanism. The element 27 in addition to facilitating the arranging and manual guiding of the material through the machine acts as a shield to prevent grease, oil

or the like from dropping onto the tubiform material X. The table 19 at its juncture with the horn 12 is provided with an upstanding boss 28 which is of substantially a narrow elliptical shape. A guide web 29 extends from the rear end of the boss to a point directly in front of the presser foot F and the rear edge of the web 29 is feathered or sharpened approximately to a knife edge. The upper rear portion of the web is provided with laterally projecting ears 30, the under surfaces of which are spaced slightly above the upper surface of the table 19. The opposite sides of the web serve in the nature of a guide against which the spaced side edges Y of the tubiform material X are adapted to be guided inwardly to the point of stitching where they are brought into abutting relation for connection by the zigzag stitch Z;

In order to provide means for intermittently feeding the material coincident with the stitching mechanism, a driven feeding roller 31 having a serrated periphery is mounted and suitably supported from the machine head C in rear of the presser foot. Preferably. as illustrated, the roller supporting bracket 32 is directly carried by the presser foot bar J. In addition to the driven feed roller which engages with theupper surface of the material, an idler feed roller 33 is employed which is held against retrograde movement by a pawl 34: and which is suitably supported under the bed plate and extending into an aperture 35 in said bed plate. The means for transmitting intermittent motion to the driven feed roller 31 consists of a shaft1rsection 36 connected by a universal joint 37 to a shaft section 38. The shaft section 38 is keyed to the core 39 of a friction clutch, the casing 40 of which is rocked or partially turned in opposite directions by a link 41 ac 11 tuated by a bell crank 42 which is in turn moved by a pitman 43 driven by an eccentric 4 1 on the maindrive shaft H in the machine arm A.

Preferably, the machine arms A and 10 are. F1115 supported by a table 45 which has a downwardly offset portion 46 underlying the shield and form element 27. The motor 47 for drivingthe main shaft H of the machine may be mounted under the upper level oflil the table 45, as illustrated, and suitably con nected by a belt 48 which is trained around a sheave 49 on the motor shaft 50 and around a sheave 51 on the main drive shaft H.

In practice, the operator feeds the leadingend of the strip to the stitching mechanism under the presser foot by bringing the opposite edges YY- together around the element 27 with said edges Y.Y in abutting relation at the point of stitching and with said edges in contact with the guide web 29 and around the opposite sides of the boss 28. After the stitching operation has been initiated, the operator merely continues to guide the edges YY against the opposite sides of the boss 28. i

From the foregoing, it willthus be seen that a machine for forming tubular material from a strip of fabric has been devised, by

virtue of which the shuttle of the stitching mechanism disposed within the confines of the tubiformed strip at the point of stitching, may be driven without obstructing the path of movement of the strip.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for forming tubular material from a strip, a stitching mechanism including a shuttle disposed within the confines of the tubiformed strip at the point of stitching, a motion transmitting element for the shuttle extending into the tubiformed strip between the spaced edges thereof and means in rear of the stitching mechanism for feeding the material including an idler as feed element arranged within the confines of the tubiformed strip and a driven feed element cooperating therewith disposed beyond the confines of said tubiformed strip.

2. In a machine for forming tubular ma :0 terial from a strip, a stitching mechanism including a shuttle disposed within the con fines of the tubiformed strip at the point of stitching, a motion transmitting element for the shuttle extending into the tubiformed a strip between the spaced edges thereof, means in rear of the stitching mechanism for feeding the material including an idler feed element arranged within the confines of the tubiformed strip and a driven feed element 0 cooperating therewith disposed beyond the confines of said tubiformed strip and a driving means for said driven feed element;

3. In a machine for forming tubular material from a strip, a stitching mechanism inc 5 eluding a bed plate, a shuttle arranged below the bed plate and a driving means arranged above the bed plate; means for transmitting motion to said shuttle from said driving means at a point in advance of the point of stitching and between the spaced side edges of the strip, feeding means in rear of the stitching mechanism including an idler feed element within the confines of the stitched tubular strip, a cooperating drivenfeeding element disposed exteriorly of the confines of the stitched tubular strip and a driving connection between said driving meansand the driven feeding element.

Signed at New York, in the county ofNew 50" York, and State of New York this 12th day of March, A. D. 1929.

HORACE 'M. BUNKER. 

